Thank You
by Irregular.Socks
Summary: He was being an idiot, and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. AU. Riku/Sora.


He was being an idiot, and he knew it, but he couldn't help it. He couldn't help wanting the gift to be _perfect_, absolutely perfect. It had to be, for him, because he didn't deserve anything less. Hell, he deserved _better_.

But, his mind was pulling up a blank. He couldn't think of a single thing to give to his _best friend_ of all people, and he was ashamed. How could he not think of anything to get him for his birthday?

The silver haired teen angrily ran his fingers through his hair as he looked over the rack, glittering gold and silver and diamond in the cheap lighting, _again. _He had gone through every shelf, every rack, everything more than once in his search for the perfect gift, and he always strayed back to the jewelery, of all things. Like Sora would even remember, let alone care enough, to wear it...

At least, that's what he told himself. In the back of his mind, he knew the boy would cherish whatever he gave him and would wear any piece of jewelery given obsessively, like his life depended on it.

The thought brought the ghost of a smile to the the teen's lips, and he chuckled quietly to himself. His brilliant eyes scanned over the merchandise slowly, not really seeing any of it. He was about to turn around and go back to the sporting goods when something caught his eye; a silver crown on a bulky silver chain.

Somehow, it screamed, "Sora!"

He pursed his lips and shoved his hands in his pockets. The accessory was expensive, at a whopping 6000 munny. He wasn't sure Sora would appreciate the notion of spending so much munny on him, though Riku could probably buy him three of the things with the munny he had with him. Sora had never been one for the higher, material things in life, though...

But Riku couldn't think of anything better to get his friend, sadly. He scowled to himself and ripped the necklace off of it hanger, gritting his teeth as he went up to the counter to pay for it. The woman behind the counter smiled politely at him as he approached and readied the cash register. He placed his item on the counter and pulled the cash out, placing it next to the accessory, a scowl still firmly planted on his face.

The woman chuckled to herself. "Not satisfied?" She inquired.

Riku ran another hand through his hair, still scowling. "Not exactly..." He didn't figure it necessary to disclose anymore information on the subject of his purchase.

The woman, however, thought differently. "A gift for someone? Lover, maybe?" Riku's cheeks, despite his best efforts, shot to scarlet, and the woman chuckled again. "Or secret crush...?"

Now, that struck a cord. Riku held no such feelings for Sora! Sure, he respected the boy, thought him funny and caring and sweet and selfless, a little-- no, _very _-- naive, and maybe, sometimes, he caught himself watching the boy, but he _didn't_, absolutely _did not_ have a crush on Sora.

And he was being defensive, and he knew it.

"No." He hissed through his teeth.

The woman simply shrugged and gave him his change, bagging the necklace before handing it back to him. "Whatever you say, sweetheart. Just tell me one thing, boy or girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"Are you buying this for a boy or a girl?" She said slowly, deliberately stretching out every syllable.

Riku idly wondered if it was wrong to wish death upon a lowly store clerk. "Boy." He muttered.

The woman snorted. "Figures. You scream, '_Fabulous'._"

Again, all Riku could think to say was, "Excuse me?"

"It's my kind word for, 'Flamingly gay'."

Okay, now he was insulted. He was not gay. He once had a crush on Kairi.

...And now he was cursing himself for the pass tense.

But, he knew "flamingly gay", two of them, in fact. They went by the names "Marluxia," and "Axel". And he was neither. He was Riku.

No longer having any further reason to stay in the now very annoying gift shop, he spun on his heel and stalked out of the door, blantly ignoring the woman's loud laughter as it echoed behind him.

In the back of his mind, he hated her. Why? Because she was right, in a sick, indirect sort of way.

Riku had gone through the trouble of annoying himself and very near tearing his own hair out, thinking of a present for Sora. He wanted ot get him something he would like, always, and keep with him, _always_. Something close to his heart...

Maybe that's why he had always found himself in front of the jewelery rack. Huh.

Anyway. Digressions aside, Riku had put more thought into _Sora's_ gift than he put into his own _mother's._ He didn't quite know if that said anything or not, but he didn't like the sound of it anyway. Riku forced himself to stop thinking and just walk, as he was late for a very important occasion.

There was a party down at the beach that very same day, Sora's party, in fact. Most, if not all, of his friends were present; Roxas was with Axel, Kairi and Namine and the other girls were..._somewhere_, and everyone else was occupied. Sora made sure of it. Being the gracious host that he was, he made sure everyone was busy and happy and didn't need a single thing, which left him with nothing to do but wait for it to be time to open his presents.

And wait for Riku. That, too.

The brunette boy found himself constantly searching the crowd for his silver haired best friend, but he couldn't see him anywhere. The thought of Riku just abandoning him, maybe having something better to do, made his chest ache and his throat clench shut, his eyes water, and his hands ball into fists.

He was utterly, truly disappointed, especially considering that his party _had_ started about half an hour ago...

The boy sighed, sitting on a log, being used as a make shift bench, and rested his chin in palm, elbow on his knee. "And here I thought you'd come, Riku..." He muttered quietly.

"And here I thought you had more faith in me than that, Sora." A teasing voice said behind him.

Immediately, Sora was on his feet, whipping around to face the speaker, a wide grin stretched out on his face. "Riku!" He cried, jumping over the log to violently hug his best friend in a very manly way, of course.

Riku hugged back in an equally manly manner, there being _nothing_ fabulous about the moment.

Of course.

Sora pulled away from his friend, pouting now. "What took you so long?"

Riku shrugged and held up a small, white shopping bag. "Had to get your gift.

"But I told you not to get me anything..." The brunette said slowly.

Again, Riku merely shrugged. "I wanted to." He dug into the bag himself, seeing as Sora wasn't going to, and brought out the confounded necklace.

Sora's eyes resembled saucers when he saw the thing.

He couldn't believe Riku had gone out and gotten him jewelery of all things. Riku! Buying jewelery! For _hm!_

A wide grin stretched across his face as he took the necklace from Riku's hand and gently ran his fingers over it. "It's so pretty...I love it!"

Riku snorted. "Figures. Knew you'd want something _shiny._"

Sora merely pouted and clasped the chain around his neck. "...Thank you, Riku." He said softly, hugging his best friend again.

The silver haired teen hugged him back, a soft smile gracing his lips. "It had to be perfect, for you."

His only response was a laugh and a frighteningly bold peck on the lips.

Riku was frozen, shocked, for what seemed like hours to the younger boy, but was only a few seconds in reality. "S...Sora..." He began.

"Thank you, Riku."


End file.
